A former Russian lawmaker fighting for Ukraine says he believes Putin’s days are numbered because “no dictator can survive losing a war.”

• A former Russian politician who was overthrown in 2016 is fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.

• Ilya Ponomarev He told CNN On Wednesday, he believes Putin’s days in power are numbered.

• He called Putin a “dictator” and expressed confidence that Ukrainian forces would “victory”.

A former Russian lawmaker is fighting for Ukraine He told CNN On Wednesday, he said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s days were numbered because “no dictator can survive losing a war.”

Ilya Ponomarev has lived in Kyiv, Ukraine since 2016 after he was ousted by the Russian parliament. After the Russian invasion on February 24, the former politician took up arms and joined the Ukrainian forces.

Speaking from Kyiv, Ponomarev told CNN that he decided to fight alongside Ukrainian forces because he wanted to “defend humanity and Europe.” It is unclear exactly what his role in the forces is.

“No dictator can live after losing a war,” Ponomarev said of Putin. “[Putin] He has no way of winning the war.”

“Putin will try to claim a certain victory – an imaginary victory – on May 9. I am absolutely sure of that, but the truth is that he is losing the war,” he added. “I believe that the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people will not stop until the Ukrainian lands are liberated”

You can watch the full interview here:

May 9, otherwise known as Victory Day, is a major holiday in Russia commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 and is usually celebrated with a massive military parade in front of the Kremlin.

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine He said last month That the Russian forces were informed that the war should end on 9 May.

Western officials believe that Putin will want to control Donbass and other eastern regions of Ukraine by that date, According to CNN.

Ponomarev, who has opposed Putin in the past, was a member of the Russian parliament from 2007 to 2016, Reuters reported. In 2014, he became the only member of parliament to vote against the annexation of Crimea, according to Reuters.

He was dismissed for not carrying out his duties in 2016 and moved to Kyiv, According to the Russian news agency TAAS.

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